It’s funny how we humans assign different names to concepts that have existed for a long time. We coin new terms that embody old concepts. Take the concept of ‘The Pivot‘.
It’s become the new buzzword in Entrepreneurship circles thanks to Eric Ries and his Lean Startup concept:
Lean startup guru Eric Ries recommends that start-ups refine their business models through small tweaks—or pivots. Continue reading
Spotted this question at Disney Institute’s Facebook Fan page:
Here’s more in-depth look at how Guestology works:
The power or the Disney Magic comes from knowing customers and looking beyond the words being used to figure out how to exceed guest expectations. Something that happens on-site may not be our fault, but it is our problem. And that means that it must be fixed to exceed expectations.
Disney even has a Guestology compass: Needs – basic, Wants – preferences associated with needs, Emotions – the positives, and Stereotypes – maximize positive stereotypes/minimize negative ones.
I’m a big Disney fan and had no idea about Guestology. Very exciting!
There were a lot more interesting reads this week, check out my Delicious bookmarks on Innovation for more.
Last month I got invited to be part of a small group of Businessmen/Entrepreneurs/Consultants/CEO’s that meet once per month to talk about technology and innovation. We’re calling it Mix 2.0 for some reason.
Our first meeting was Wednesday. We met at (ironically) Bar20 at VIA Corporativo, which is one floor beneath my office. There were about 15 of us and we had the place all to ourselves. We sat in a circle, and to get things rolling we introduced ourselves.
The 2nd person to introduce himself is an inventor. Among other things, he worked on the Nintendo Wii controller about two years before the Wii came out. As you can imagine he’s a very interesting person. He spent about 10 minutes talking about his career. This set the tone for everyone else. I soon started thinking: Let the I-out-credential-you begin! Continue reading
Expertise is the enemy of innovation right? Yes, but even experts can think differently. And there’s much to learn from them on how they are able to overcome their ‘know-it-all’ tendencies.
Indeed, research into expertise and expert performance explains how great strategists use mental frames to break cognitive barriers that prevent others from seeing new options. It is not just that experts know more about the problem—in fact they often know less—but they think differently. They restructure, reorganize, and refine their representation of knowledge so as to more efficiently apply knowledge to solve problems.
Thinking differently is just a matter of shifting your frame. Of seeing things from a different point of view. But what inhibits us from being able to think differently?
More specifically, what happens inside our minds that limit our capacity to think differently? Continue reading
Creating a new category. The Holy Grail of Innovation. The Holy Grail of entrepreneurs. It’s when you can create a new category that you command the skies. Think of the iPad. Is it a new category?
It is. But not because people think it is, but because Apple defined it as such. Experts characterized the iPad as a tablet, but customers did not. That’s all that matters.
Other examples of category creation exist. For example Gatorade created the sports drink category. Chrysler created the minivan. Toyota created the Prius. Each had a good amount of time before any competitor entered the space.
So why is it that you should embrace creating new categories? Continue reading
